Finished our landscaping! We were finally able to track down the same landscaping company who did our previous home. It’s mostly a desert-scape with turf, rock and succs. Not much watering needed, yay.

Besides the turf and concrete in the backyard, we decided to try DIY’ing a succulent wall. We purchased planks from a lumber company, bought posts and put the booger to work, haha.

Moving all the planks to the backyard on a little dolly…

After a weekend of labor, we are so happy with how it turned out! Went from a huge yard in TX to a medium yard to almost no yard so the wall was befitting… Y is pretty happy about not having to do much yard work (or hiring someone to do it). :P

We bought the succulent pots and had them delivered to a lady known for succs in the area to make all the arrangements. Got to chat with her for a bit and found out she used to work as a helper in SG for many years. Inspiring that she could go from that to owning her own biz here. Hopefully America will continue to be a land of opportunity.

The pieces all turned out so beautiful… We barely fit them all in the SUV but they survived. Super low maintenance too!

Started campus visits for middle school and beyond! Y especially loved the chapel here as it reminded him of his secondary school in S’pore.

Sailing after school…

Seems like we’re always at the club now.

His coach has been asking if E wants to do regattas but he doesn’t feel quite ready so we haven’t pushed… He’s been doing some practice races so sometimes we’re back on the water to spectate and cheer on.

There was a solar eclipse one day and the Liu’s walked over to watch.

We wanted to do something unique for the California room floor… Most neighbors were tiling or just epoxying it. We epoxied our garage floor and tile just didn’t quite appeal as much so we decided try another DIY project and paint it a monochromatic Mondrian-esque pattern. Don’t even ask how long we agonized over the various shades of grey, haha. Also, it wasn’t super easy to get the lines straight but we like how it turned out! Patio furniture will go on top.

That’s probably a wrap on {major} house things for now…

His first time seeing a roasted pig at a neighbor’s party… Poor Babe!

After living here a few years, we’ve gotten used to “Indian summers” with September as generally the “hottest” month. So pool days are still in order!

How are we in 5th grade and last year of elem? HOW. Continuing on with the make-your-own-sign-now situation. :D

Doing some biking on the trails in our community that are still expanding in the months to come.

Tried this small ramp area on the bike.

A little play date at our new clubhouse, catching up with J since it’s another year at different schools.

Loving the vibe and aesthetic — like chic, urban lodge feel?

Hung out a little on the first floor of the gym which is supposed to be for mostly “recovery”.

Foam rollers make for great robot arms? Haha.

Back outside to the playground!

Hot tubbin’.

Guess who joined safety patrol and is helping to ensure the safety of the pedestrians at school? :) He almost didn’t make the deadline last year for the application but glad he got in.

When the principal (in navy) comes out to observe, you best make sure the streets are safe!

For Labor Day, we went to OC to check out some furniture shops and just hang around.

Someone fell asleep browsing furniture, haha. The boys want this kind of recliner; the mom is nixxing it.

Found Sasquatch in Orange County. ;-P

$400 Grinch Nike’s, anyone? From a vintage shop we stumbled on… They had some interesting items!

Soon he absolutely will not want to take a photo sitting on a heart swing. But this day, he still obliged, lol.

Then bought Singaporean food back home.

Fall sailing is in full swing!

We took a boat out to “spy” on the water. :)

Just a man and his dog SUP’ing, haha.

Another SpaceX launch.

They braved the new Ramen Nagi… went early but still a line.

Neighborhood playground #2 is open for play.

A Panda award. :)

PSA: Soooooooo if you haven’t guessed already, we are writing waaaay in the future and a good two years or so behind on posts. See this site now as more of a memoir than a blog. ;-P We will get around to documenting our adventures, though, as we definitely don’t want to forget them!

Elementary school seems like a lifetime ago now but we had one last trip visiting several nat’l parks before 5th started, with our national park pass from Every Kid Outdoors.

We decided to fly into Eugene, OR (a big running town!) to make a driving loop through a few national parks. We landed and went to 5th Street Public Market for dinner.

Found Asian food at Provisions Market Hall.

Walked through some of the shops and boutiques.

We ended the evening with a walk through Hendricks Park.

Excited to spot wildlife at the park!

The next day, we visited the legendary Hayward Field at U of Oregon, home of many well-known track and field events.

Sadly, the stadium itself was closed but it was still cool to walk around the perimeter and on the turf.

Very cool architecture, too!

After, we walked across the street to the Museum of Natural and Cultural Campus, also part of the campus.

The museum wasn’t huge but quite well done and informational about the area.

Explored a bit more of the campus around the museum.

Mommy found a raw vegan cafe that was yummy!!!

Of course the boys had to balance healthy with a trip to Voodoo Doughnuts… (first discovered with Uncle Dan when we were in Portland).

We set out on our drive to Crater Lake with some stops along the way.

Office Covered Bridge — a historic covered bridge.

Tiny playground by the bridge.

Next stop was McCredie Hot Springs.

And boy was the water hot!

Walking through on the rocks without touching the water.

Pit stop to devour some of those VooDoo donuts we got in the AM.

Then off to encounter the first of several falls we got to see on this trip: Salt Creek Falls.

It was a short hike through the trees to get there

It did not disappoint!

Did a bit more hiking around the area.

Gnarly exposed roots.

Plus hanging by the cliff…

Randomly came across a Rivian charge station in the middle of nowhere! A few of our neighbors had ordered theirs so thought we’d show them when we got back.

Then checked into our hotel close to Crater Lake.

Behold the beauty of Crater Lake!

The blue of the water is just otherworldly.

Quick tailgate lunch before taking on the strenuous Watchman Trail down to Cleetwood Cove.

It’s not long but definitely a steep decline down to the water.

Had to stop to admire the azul of the waters (and for water and maybe catch a breath, haha).

The boys wanted to take a dip in the lake while Mommy just enjoyed quiet time on the rocks.

Underwater was apparently crystal clear…

And cold but refreshing!

And then Daddy decided to jump off a cliff for fun…

Post-jump…

It was until after we were about to head back up that Daddy discovered his Apple watch had taken a plunge into the lake w/o him realizing him during the splash… Womp, womp, womp. His excuse to get a new one. So yea, the watch is now at the bottom of Crater Lake!

On to see some of the other interesting rock formations.

Caught some more deer.

Sunset was golden.

We sat to drink it in while E finished his scavenger hunt.

A little casino close to our hotel… They let E walk to the restaurant inside, lol.

Then back on the road towards our next stop: Lassen. Mount Shasta in the background was nice.

Stopped for coffee at a little town we don’t remember and Daddy had some work to take care of.

Walked through the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden in Weed, CA. :P It was ironic that we flew out of CA into OR but then drove back into CA (waaaay north tho).

What is Asian American BBQ? :D It was closed so didn’t stop.

Weed town center, haha.

Library is a good sign.

Grabbed some food at a stand… it was triple digits at this point and we are no longer accustomed to this kind of heat!

Took our food to a nearby shaded park by the river for a little picnic. It was still HOT!!!

A little dip in the fresh spring water was nice. Lots of folks brought huge water containers to fill up on H20.

Then back on the road for some waterfall chasing…

And then… wow, BURNEY! It was a bit of a hike down and the temps dropped like 10-20 degrees.

It was a loop hike so got to see different things back up… as it also got warmer again, haha.

A different vantage point.

Daddy wants to do a looooong thru-hike on the PCT one day.

Poetry in nature, no better combo!

We got to Redding, CA and it was well over 100 degrees. Elias woke up the next morning not feeling well… we were thinking possibly heat exhaustion but not sure.

We had originally planned to do a full hike but E wasn’t feeling up to it.

We went part of the way…

Stepped on snow — in August! Then he started feeling really nauseous and we went back to the car.

Daddy and Monday took turns hiking to the geothermal areas while the other stayed with him in the car. He ended up falling asleep which was good.

It went from trees to lots of rocks.

And then smelled the sulfur before seeing it…

After both of us did the hike to the thermals, E woke up and felt a bit better and was able to walk to some areas around the car.

Drove to the ranger station and did the pledge (again) for the badge.

Can’t miss the sign!

Remnants from a previous fire.

Drove by Bethel on the way out. We are aware of some of the controversy but can’t deny that a lot of their songs have impacted the church.

Back on the road again towards Redwood National Park. Stopped at Turtle Bay.

Couldn’t resist another waterfall: Crystal Creek.

A little gimmicky but just had to. ;-)

Had some other unusual knickknacks/artifacts.

Camel Rock area and it was nice to be coastal, where it’s closer to weather we’re used to. (Yea, pretty spoiled now!)

E was happy to see some sailboats.

Made it to Redwood and so did this little minifig. :)

Fern Canyon — parts of Jurassic Park was filmed here.

The moss!

A dinosaur?

Really enjoyed just romping around.

Elk Meadow for… elk. :D

Battery Point Lighthouse and surrounding beach in Crescent City the next day. It was a cloudy, gloomy day and bummer the lighthouse was closed.

Walk on the pier…

Back into the other side of the nat’l park for more trees. :)

Inside a trunk.

Spotted this ‘lil guy.

Got some air with our jump photos… :)

Scary movie material?

Zombie.

The length of this fallen trunk!

The sign, always the sign. ;-)

Then we made some stops along the Oregon coast on the way back to Eugene.

Imagination in nature… back to the good old days.

Sunset!

Managed to catch a farmer’s market the next day before our flight home. Then found out our flight was rescheduled to the day AFTER school starts due to a “storm” brewing in SD. (A storm in SD is “heavyish” rain, lol). We decided to cancel our SW for credit and then booked one way on another airline so E wouldn’t miss first day.

Local fruit we got at the farmer’s market while waiting at the airport.

Bye, ducks! Maybe we’ll be back one day…

Our neighbor wanted to show us his brand new Rivian just as we got home… and we told him about the charger we happened upon.

What a trip! Now time to turn school mode on — bring it on, last year of elementary!